Raging Storm {book 2 in SOSfanfic series} [ON HOLD]

The Way

"Don't get too comfortable here." Reyna mumbled as she navigated through the plain in a haphazard manner.

"What made you think I will?" Mr. Ambrose, riding besides her, spoke frigidly as he eyed red stain on the ground. They were speaking after three days since the eventful sandstorm.

"You haven't seen the inside yet. You might start to trust them. Don't."

"Inside?"

Reyna jerked her head towards the lonely mountain, the only sound to be heard was the hot wind whistling, the clop-clop of the camel's feet, and an occasional groan from the caravan riders. She abruptly turned right.
"Where else do you think they live? In the ground?"

Mr. Ambrose looked down to the passing pubic bone laying on the ground as they passed. She turned left in a big circle and then an another sharp right to face the mountain.

"Could be. Charming people. And why on earth are you leading in such a way?"

"Traps in the ground. Wouldn't want to drop dead at the welcome mat."

Mr. Ambrose eyed an another pool of blood. It was rippling even though the wind wasn't as low as to touch the ground. He followed Reyna's heel more closely.

"I assume you haven't been back here in quite a few years?"

"You assume correct."

"Then how do you know that there are no new traps?"

Reyna chuckled and shrugged,"I don't."

Mr. Ambrose froze.

"But, luckily," she drawled on, "I do know about the requirements of setting traps, one of them being unsuspecting landmark where the trap could be hidden. So, avoid the bones, the char, the blood, the heaps of sand. Oh, and also don't take the shortest, most comfortable, straight path to get to the mountain. This one time, I remember they had this giant round boulder that they set off and it rolled for ages and slew a quarter of an army."

Reyna chuckled at her fond memories. Mr. Ambrose eyes the mountain suspiciously. No doubt about it, it was definitely looking more menacing now.

As the hours passed, they neared, realizing that the mountain was more than just one and a half mile away from the sand dunes. It only appeared that way due to optical illusions.

It was evening by the time the party finally reached the foot of the giant rock. Reyna slid down, heaved her satchel onto her shoulders and walked to a cluster of rocks jutting up from the ground. The rest followed the suit, albeit slowly.

"Shouldn't we be worried about ambush, Baasa?" Youseff spoke with hoarse voice. Yes, repeated  vomiting does that to you.

"Oh no! If they wanted to kill us, We'd already be dead. They can kill us after they meet us, but that is a whole different story."

The men looked ready to faint, some to get sick and then faint. Reyna grinned wickedly.

"I do hope you're joking." Mr. Ambrose wryly said, looking unaffected by the situation.

"I am sincerely not," but she didn't stop smiling. She grasped a rock firmly and gave it a mighty pull. It rumbled and crashed into the ground, sending up a cloud of dust. Where it stood, was a pitch black hole.

Throwing a naughty grin at Mr. Ambrose, she purred, "Ready to meet the parents?"

-*-

No one was ready to meet the parents.
That much was clear from the fact as Reyna could literally smell the fear of the crowd as they went down the hole one by one.

She and Mr. Ambrose were left last.
"Ms. Mertya, we have to talk."

"About?"

"What happened that day-"

Reyna rolled her eyes and jumped through the hole, her body dissolving into darkness.

She landed on her feet,which landed on a heap of groaning bodies. Stomping on limbs, faces and backsides, Reyna got to the sandy yet firm floor.

"Come on you numb nuts, we don't have all day." She yelled as she stomped down the narrow, dark corridor which reeked of stale air, but was cooler than the surface.

"She got the numb thing right." Someone grumbled. A sound of a smack and more grumbling, eventually cursing and shuffling.

They walked in pitch blackness until Reyna lit something on fire. It was a crude iron dagger wrapped in linen.
"Don't touch the walls. And if I tell you to not place your foot somewhere, it would be wise to pay heed."

And off she marched into the corridor that leaned right, only sound that of shuffling feet. Distance could not be measured down here save for counting strides. Reyna roughly estimated that they had travelled a quarter of a circle, and stood waiting at the entrance of a side passage, as many other dotted the hallway.

This corridor was rougher, dark rocks jutting out and the ceiling getting lower as they crouched. At one point they had to crawl on all fours. It was a straight path, drawn tangentially to the curve they walked through first. Everyone was cursing madly in their heads, sure that Baasa was leading them to their deaths. After all, this could not be a proper path!

Alas, the small hole they emerged through opened into a wide square corridor with flat walls made of red stone. There were torches at intervals and many, many little square holes cut into the walls.

They ambled through. Reyna did not have to look behind as she lead, to know what the men were doing.

"Touch the torches and the ground vanished beneath our feet. And don't look through the holes if you don't want to lose an eye."

The men sprang back and walked in a single file. The air was colder here, and more fresh, although there was no source of light save for the torches.

Finally, Reyna stopped. The men stopped too, puzzled, for she had paused in the middle of a the corridor, nothing else in sight.

Reyna crouched down and swiped some sand away from the ground where she was standing. Strong black lines hewn in the red rock were revealed. She stood back up and faced the crowd.

"Alright." Her voice echoed, "Everyone take out your weapons and put them on the ground. Every last one. Or you will suffer."

The men did so, half out of fear, half confusion.

"You are not trying to kill us, are you Baasa?" Youseff joked pathetically.

Reyna paused from emptying the armoury hidden in her robes to raise an eyebrow at Youseff. He got the message.

Once it was all done, Reyna stood and turned around back to face the head of the corridor with her hands above her head, eyeing the peepholes.

The men held their breath. They were not alone?! But it was a flat, lit corridor!

Reyna's voice rang out clear with authority, "It is Reyna Mertya. I come home. And I choose trial by the Bull."